Fragmented
by godofhisownstories
Summary: Canon until the beginning of Fullbring Arc. What if Ichigo can communicate with his zanpakuto after activating his fullbring? What if it awaken other powers within his soul? Ichigo, used to taking his power for granted, will have to learn the intricacies of his inner strength, all while forces tries to tip the world's balance into into oblivion. Rating M just to be safe
1. Chapter 1

Canon until the beginning of Fullbring Arc. What if Ichigo can communicate with his zanpakuto after activating his fullbring? What if it awaken other powers within his soul?

Name: Kurosaki Ichigo

Age: 17 years old

Hair Color: Orange

Eye Color: Brown

Occupation: High School Student.

 **He cannot see ghosts**

It has been seventeen months, more than a year, since the battle that decide the fate of the world, Ichigo Kurosaki is in his last year of high school. Chad and Inoue told his friends about his power, correction, former power as shinigami, and all of them accepted without hesitation. In his place, his sister, Karin Kurosaki, has increased her spiritual power to protect Karakura Town. It's not something that she wanted, but she accepted her new role and work her way through, something that made Ichigo feel that he left his role behind in a capable hands, well, more capable than Zennosuke Kumarandani that is.

Ichigo was living his normal life, the life he had before being shinigami. Which consist of

Beating Keigo

Scolding Inoue over the usual silly things she does

Got into a verbal scuffle with Tatsuki

Fighting Bullies

Whoring himself to the clubs

His unusual job

The whole nine yards. But then it all begins to fall apart, beginning with a stranger that he saved before barged in his life. He had the audacity to ask him to research his father and implying he doesn't know much about him. Later, the same stranger also confronts him with his confidence in Urahara's intentions, and warned him of the man who was practically his master that his family might be in danger if he didn't find out. It finally hit the bottom when his friend, Ishida, found bloodied in the street, attacked by something Uryu's father concluded to be by a human with spiritual power. Not only that, Ryuuken had to go and opened an old wound by asking what he can do in his current condition.

At the time Ichigo had no choice but to call a number on a card given to him by the stranger, Kugo Ginjo.

* * *

Chapter One: Memories

"Freakin Fullbring" Ichigo ran from the bizarre looking monster pig in a doll house. Yes, Doll House.

Kugo Ginjo turned out to be a member of a secret group, Xcution. A group of human with hollow based power. Kugo said that they wanted to restore Ichigo's power, something that just doesn't sit tight to Ichigo. But with his friends in danger, desperate situations call for desperate action.

He's supposed to be training with docile, well, not docile, but less berserk plushie like the current one. But nobody told him useful thing about how to awaken fullbring and now that fifteen minutes has passed, the doll turned into a gigantic muscular monstrosity that destroy the area.

"The Hell?!" The monster tore the grounds, and buttons fly everywhere. It's only thanks to the reflex he gained from his shinigami days he can traverse through these saccharine world of dollhouse.

Ichigo throw a button to the creature's eye, blinding him for a moment, letting Ichigo catch his breath and think further about awakening fullbring.

"What should I do? If I'm to manifest this fullbring thing with my combat pass... How do I do it?" Ichigo thinks as he looked at his combat pass, a relic he thought no longer of use.

"Fullbring is..." Ichigo tried to remember what Ginjo, Riruka, and Chad said about it.

 _'_ Ability to draw out soul in an object and putting that object to use' Ginjo's word rang like a bell in his mind.

"Draw out the soul of combat pass, how?" Ichigo's grip on his combat pass become harder with every second. 'How the hell am I gonna do that?'

'Love' Riruka said. But He isn't sure that Kugo Ginjo loves his pendant. It is more like fondness.

"Its pride!"Ichigo startled as Chad shouted above him.

"When I awakened my Brazo Derechio Del Gigante, What was in my heart was pride! The material that becomes the basis for my fullbring, the skin on my two arms!" Chad roll back his sleeve, showing his brown skin.

"Skin?" Ichigo question the logic inside that statement, 'So skin has a different soul than… soul?'

But Ichigo choose not to question his friend's logic, since his friend there is the fullbringer.

"I have dark skin because of the Mestizo Blood within me. My appearance, my big body, all caused me to go through difficult situations. But I never lost the pride I had in my skin! I can retain my pride because of my Abuelo, He gave me the strength to be proud!"

"When I first awakened my power, Abuelo was in my heart. It was when Abuelo gave me pride. Think back, Ichigo! Think back of the time when you're proud of being shinigami! That combat pass will respond to your heart!"

'Remember...' Ichigo look back at his combat pass as memories from seventeen month ago flood his mind.

'When I was proud of being shinigami?' Flashback of Rukia stabbing him with her sword, the catalyst of his awakening, becomes the first image to pass his mind.

'How can I?'

Fighting Renji

Byakuya

Kenpachi

Saving Rukia

Fighting Yammy

Grimmjow

Ulquiorra

Gin

Aizen

Zangetsu

'How can I remember them all?'

"There were... Too Many" Ichigo sighed and closed his eyes, while the raging emotions torment him.

Red Reiatsu flows out of the combat pass, startling the holder and his spectators.

He has awakened his fullbring.

* * *

Chapter 02: Final Shield

The red reiatsu calms down, taking the shape of a Manji, Ichigo's bankai guard.

'This is... Tensa Zangetsu's... Guard?' Ichigo thinks, right before his battle-honed instinct warns him of danger. He quickly dodged when a plushie fist tore the wall where he hide.

"HRAARRGGHH" The pig monster roared, spits coming out of its mouth.

'disgusting' Ichigo mentally comment, he seized the opportunity to jump and land on the creature's shoulder, much to its surprise.

Ichigo tried to cut the beast with the red reiatsu, which only serves to make it even more furious and tried to catch Ichigo with its other hand. Ichigo narrowly dodged and run again, the monster hot on his tail.

He can hear Chad, giriko, and Riruka argue. He doesn't know the specific, but apparently he can't exit this saccharine world until he defeats the monster.

Suit him fine.

'Perhaps it is meant to be thrown?' Ichigo dodged another strike. It does looks like a shuriken.

'I guess any plan beats no plan'

Ichigo roll from what appears to be the pig monster's poor attempt at hulk smash, then seeing the opening, throw the combat pass.

Which failed as soon as it reaches halfway to the monster-plushie. The reiatsu receded back to the combat pass.

Thankfully, Ichigo was able to retrieve it with his body intact, but still mentally cursing the combat pass for being useless. He might even catch Riruka insulting his fullbring. In his mind, Ichigo agrees a little.

'This thing can't attack for shit. How ironic, since it looks like Tensa Zangetsu's... Guard.' Ichigo musing comes to a stop as realization kick in.

'A guard isn't meant to cut…. But…..'

'Oh shit'

He vaguely feels that the monster is about to do another punch. This time, instead of running, he faces the plushie. His right hand gripping the combat pass tightly.

When Mr. Pork's fist is about to meet its target, Ichigo holds up his combat pass to defend himself from the punch.

The punch meets the black reiatsu, which disturbed it a bit, but never really lose its form. It even push the pig-monster away a bit.

For Ichigo though, it feels like crashing into a wall as he is blown away several feet (or millimeter? He is in tiny dollhouse after all). While the attack is blocked, the shock still does his body some damage, particularly on his arm. Newton's third law is still in effect, albeit generously. His arm should be broken already.

He doesn't concern himself with that, however. He can't.

He is too ecstatic to care. His gamble paid off.

"Since it looks like a guard, it will behave like a guard, huh?" Ichigo grinned. He can block the creature's attacks with this, getting close enough to rip its eyes out. That might work.

While considering his option, Ichigo subconsciously wants to rest his right hand, so he moves the combat pass to his left.

[sfx: Reiatsu Flaring]

What?

While Ichigo's friends missed that, Ichigo did not.

'This feeling…..'

Mr. Pork is already returning to its legs, roaring at the orange-haired teen, yet the orange-haired teen can't even bring himself to be alarmed. Instead, his mind wander to the past.

'Abandon your fear, look forward'

The creature sprint to Ichigo, as crazed and furious as usual.

'Move forward and never stop'

Ichigo focused the red reiatsu towards a single point, ignoring Riruka yelling about human body and dying.

As if He didn't know that. Dying means going to soul society and he can go back here with gigai, easy. Well, at least that's what the plan is in case he died prematurely. Which he about to, if his prediction is all wrong.

No, Ichigo choose to not let fear cloud his mind.

'Retreat and you will age'

The beast retracted its fist, a telltale sign of its attack.

'Hesitate and you will die'

The Manji transformed into a six-pointed star, and by the time Mr. Pork about to strike Ichigo, the latter swings his hands. The energy separates itself from the combat pass and strike right in the face, knocking it out cold.

"Just like Getsuga Tensho" said Ichigo, smiling triumphantly.

Drowned in his own victory, Ichigo was unaware that his eyes turned blue for a second.

And vein-like patterns covering his bruised palm.

Name: Kurosaki Ichigo

Age: 17 years old

Hair Color: Orange

Eye Color: Brown

Occupation: High School Student.

 **He cannot see ghosts...**

 **Yet**

* * *

Author's note:

Yep and that's it. Don't wait for this to be continued, see my other stories, they're neglected.

I'll write when I can, I stop when I need to.


	2. Chapter 2

I make three versions of this chapter, all of them embarrassing. I hope this one will not make you vomit.

In the manga, Ichigo's fullbring awakening and Inoue's meeting with tsukishima happens in the same day, I change that in this story. Very minor, don't think about it too much.

Anybody complaining about the change? Calm thyself, ye who enter here.

* * *

Chapter 03: Hardworking Spirit

 **Ichigo's Room, Night**

For Ichigo, things got weirder after awakening his fullbring.

Ichigo heard Rukia and Renji's voice... from the combat pass. Ginjo assured him that there is nothing to be worried about. For Ichigo, however, assurance from Ginjo is as relieving as taking a dump while having a diarrhea, you will shit again later.

One thing, though, managed to catch Ichigo's interest. It is what Ginjo said next

"After each battle, whenever you touch your combat pass, the memories were engraved into its soul"

In other word, imprinted memory.

'It doesn't feel like memory' Ichigo mused, while looking at his combat pass. He knows his memory, especially from those times.

Ichigo shakes his head, this will get him nowhere.

'First thing first, regain my power' Ichigo grip the combat pass tightly, not wanting to waste this chance.

Later, when he had drifted off into the land of dreams, the combat pass, still resting in his hand, emitted red-black reiatsu that seeps through his skin, finding a way into his soul.

* * *

In one of the spaces between dream and reality, in the only place a shinigami can truly call themselves God, two dead spirits lies dreaming.

They are dead, for their master sacrificed them for the greater good. They are alive, for they are the master themselves.

One of them is an all white spirit. Hair, skin, _shihakushō_ , all the same chalk-white color. Except for few parts like his nails and belt. Except for the color, he looks exactly the same as his King.

The other is the opposite, dressed in black and having a dark brown hair. He usually looks older, but the last time his master called him, he used his young look, which is why he remained in this form to this day from 17 months ago.

Both of them are Ichigo Kurosaki's spirit, focusing themselves on accumulating reiryoku and reishi, little by little, in order to be awakened once more.

That is, until a jolt of reiatsu suddenly awakened one of them...

The Dark One.

* * *

Inoue has been attacked. The attacker is the one who attacked Ishida before.

And for Ichigo's own good, his friends tell him nothing.

The Xcution confirmed it instead.

His mistrust to Urahara grows.

And once more, he can't do anything about it.

In the end, he releases all that pent-up frustration in his next training.

* * *

The Dark Spirit paced around his sleeping counterpart. His master is about to do something foolish, again.

He looks around the empty world, usually littered with skyscrapers or towns, but now are absolutely nothing. Final Getsuga Tensho swept everything away like a flood. Ichigo has absolutely nothing but him. The other still sleeping.

Nothing to save Ichigo from himself, except the dark spirit, which unfortunately hasn't been doing the job well enough. In fact, the white guy exceeded him in that aspect.

The black-clad spirit, feeling a slight tinge of pain coming from his left arm, roll his sleeve, revealing a black-skull mark that glow green.

While still a foolish thing to do, for the spirit at least, regaining his power is logical. The spirit even feels glad and content that Ichigo gradually uses other facets of his ability, instead of almost exclusively using what the other spirit represent.

What is very, very foolish is when Ichigo starts to endanger his own life in his own training.

Everything starts to fall apart, at least for Ichigo, when Inoue was attacked. The spirit never cared, not really, his concern is for Ichigo and Ichigo only, but for Ichigo it was the last straw that broke the camel's back.

And as he predicted, Ichigo gets really reckless in his training... Which brings him to the moment when the combat pass' soul begin to pull his own soul from his body, forcing the black-clad spirit to pull in return, since his master is too much of a bullhead to realize that.

"Foolish Ichigo" The black-clad spirit gritting his teeth while his master's raging at his sparring partner, the one with nasty kicks. Can't he realized that the combat pass' reiatsu almost consuming his hand?

With the danger continue to escalate at a frightening rate, the black-clad spirit decided to do something drastic, hoping that it won't compromise the fullbring.

If he can't prevent it from killing his master, then he will have to subjugate it.

So he said it...

The cursed word...

"Sklaverei"

* * *

Author's Note

That Cthulu shout out, so original, much good.

Kidding, I didn't realize that until I had written it XD

Anyway, short chapter, since I don't want to totally abandon it.

In middle of job hunting, harder than I think it would be. Oh well.

See you around in the next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 04: Shard of God

Sklaverei, as the name implied, is to slave spiritual particles or souls to one's will using the most brutal method possible: Snatching it by force and grafting it into one's being. However, it is not without its danger. Sklaverei introduces elements of instability within one's soul, a highly dangerous process that require extreme talent and insanely high spiritual power on the user's part. Even then, they can only use the stolen power for a limited time, as in the long run it will literally poison the soul. The object or soul is usually discarded bit by bit into the surrounding environment, too shredded to form a solid shape.

Ichigo's spirit, however, doesn't have that luxury.

In order to stop the combat pass from pulling Ichigo's soul, he had to tear the soul of the combat pass from its physical body. If Ichigo is in full power, in which case this thing will not likely happen, the spirit can easily take the soul whole. Unfortunately, with the limited spiritual power, the spirit had to gradually take it apart piece by piece, essentially destroying it.

Putting them back into the physical container will not undo the damage, restructuring it back to its previous form is pretty much impossible.

If Ichigo lose this power so suddenly, god knows what will happen to the inner world.

The spirit hates it when it rains, he shuddered at what will possibly happen if Ichigo fall into that kind of despair.

Then an Idea comes to him, inspired by his white companion whose true identity is a literal mashup of souls. If Ichigo's soul can accept such abomination, what's a little, insignificant, inanimate soul, right? Especially one that shares its memory with his master.

The black garbed spirit contemplates as the shards of green glass-like soul that now spinning themselves above his left hand, almost like a planet to the sun.

He doesn't know why, but seeing the mangled inanimate soul evoke sadness within him.

"I am... but a shard, just like you" said the black-clad spirits, mostly to himself. This is one of the few moments that he hid from his partner, a moment where he become what he truly is. A displaced spirit without true place in the world.

How can he not? Everytime the spirit is left alone in his own devices, he starts remembering events that happened in the distant past, long before Ichigo exist.

A child, born in the dark, carving his destiny by his will and soul alone.

A God-King that ruled the angels, the carnage he left on his path in the name of 'greater good.'

The almighty lord who threatened the very balance of this world, only to be defeated by a similarly ruthless fire demon.

A Sealed king whose destiny is to regain the world.

A certain man who came from a land far away 700 years ago, running from his accused sin heathenery. A man whose blood, hair, and choice clothes will forever shape Kurosaki family. The blood defines Kurosaki as one of God's chosen, the hair their defining characteristics, and the black-cape their family name.

The birth and life of Masaki Kurosaki, her corruption, and her salvation in the hands of Isshin.

The memories serve as a reminder. He's an outsider. No matter how much and how far he's masquerading as an insider, He is still an external being latching itself to Ichigo through blood, just like the Hollow.

The Hollow gained its place by merging with Ichigo's ungrown part.

If a hollow can do it, why can't he?

Using Ichigo's inborn skills that rests deep within his blood, the dark-clad spirit gives a command to the shards.

"Be whole... with me"

* * *

Jackie Tristan is a fullbringer.

She's a natural born fullbringer who gained her power through tragedy related to her boots. As someone who uses fullbring for so long, she liked to think that she knows more than much about fullbring.

She deduced that Ichigo was pretty much fucked. Fullbring can run amok, especially in its incomplete form. She saw it in Ichigo, the symptoms. It should have killed him, but fortunately Ichigo seems to be running out of juice and his fullbring deactivated against his will. Jackie sealed the battle by kicking Ichigo in the gut, which left Ichigo kneeling before her right now.

"Thank God" Jackie breath sigh of relief, Ginjo will chew her if he knows what happened.

She needs to talk to Ichigo about that.

"Not... yet" the stubborn orange-head, Ichigo, patethically trying to stand while desperately gripping his combat pass.

"Give it up you moron" Jackie chided the admittedly courageous boy. Inside, Jackie wondered if this is the spirit he cultivated as a warrior when he was a shinigami, or if it is inherent within him.

Whatever it is, Jackie needs to curb it right now. The moment Ichigo stand up straight, Jackie land a powered-down kick, a distatefully bully-ish method that must be used, at least to knock some sense in ichigo's mind.

"You lack the stamina to use fullbring, Ichigo. Stay down"

Jackie turns her head into the 'sky', about to shout to Riruka, hopefully she is around and not shopping for sweets.

Before she managed to, however, a tremor filled the box. Jackie instinctively turns to Ichigo, unsurprised that it comes from him.

If Ichigo had somehow squirt out a little bit of strength, she wouldn't be worried.

This isn't it.

Ichigo's body, for the lack of better words, is engulfed in black fire.

Jackie rushed to his side. If this is his fullbring reaching completion, then she needs to suppress it before he takes the damage. She doesn't even know if she can, among the group, Ginjo is the only one who surely has the strength to perform this.

She never has the chance, however, because the black reiatsu explode, knocking her into the boundary of the box.

The last thing she sees is Ichigo rising from the darkness, cloaked in it, seemingly stronger than before.

* * *

While Jackie Tristan is NOT having a time of her life, Kugo Ginjo and Sado Yasutora are in middle of a discussion about fullbring, particularly one that belongs to Tsukishima, their enemy. Sado had explained the strange attack that left Inoue with no damage and the strange effect on Inoue's memory. Inoue thought of him as 'friend' from 'distant past'. This understandably unnerves Ginjo.

"Tsukishima's fullbring is 'book of the end' " Ginjo explains to Sado the nature of their shared enemy's fullbring, "A sword with a very high cutting capability, it can cut through anything. However, that is the only thing it can do"

"Is it possible that his fullbring evolved since the last time you met?" Sado asked, speculating that Tsukishima has found new ways to use his fullbring.

Kugo shook his head, "No, it isn't. Fullbring do not and cannot change through growth"

Sado frowned, remembering events in Hueco Mundo, when he and his friends rescued Inoue. He argued heatedly, "That's bullshit, My fullbring changes countless times!"

Ginjo look at him like one looks at a child, just like Giriko that stands behind the bar. Yukio on the other hand doesn't pay them a single attention, his eyes focused on his handheld game.

"That is simply you weren't reaching the full capabilities of your fullbring, we've surpassed that stage a long time ago"

"Then Inoue?" Things are getting even more confusing for Sado. If that is all that Tsukishima has, then what happened to Inoue?

"That's why I said I am worried. To the best of my knowledge, those confusion effect can't be Tsukishima's ability" then something clicked inside Ginjo, "How's Ishida Uryuu?"

"What?" Sado doesn't expect the question.

"He was attacked and cut by Tsukishima as well, is he having memory problems?" Ginjo inquired

"No, not according to Inoue" Sado answered, albeit hesitantly. They can't be really sure, after all.

"Then we better make sure. If Ishida is in the same condition, then Tsukishima really behind these. If not," Ginjo's demeanor turned grim, "then whoever attacked Orihime Inoue, isn't Tsukishima at all"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that" a voice answer from outside, Ginjo's eyes widened as he realized who that voice belongs to.

A particularly lean and mean individual; dressing himself in white shirt, suspender, and a fake smile; slash through the door like butter. A simple act that successfully stealing the spotlight.

Hell, even Yukio stopped playing his game.

The individual looks around, his shoulder-length hair waved back and forth as he done so, nostalgia clearly seen in his eyes. Then, almost playfully, he address the leader of Xcution.

"It has been a while, isn't it? Ginjo..."

* * *

Author's note:

Little trivia?

黒 (Kuro means black) 崎 (Saki, means cape (geographic) ), hence "Black Cape".

What do you think about my little fanon about the origin of Kurosaki family? I made the ancestor a templar, which is secretly a quincy organization, accused of heatehenry (within this universe, it is, kinda), and the ancestor (and several brotherhood member) ran away, lost for years until he found himself in Japan, meeting their japanese counterpart, and live there. His style of clothing give birth to his new surename: Kurosaki.

Of course, I am not really immersing myself in Japanese language and I'm only using word play to get by, so if I'm wrong, I apologize.


	4. Chapter 4

I split a chapter into two because I'm too lazy to finish it.

* * *

Chapter 05: Hero vs Villain Part 1

"It's been too long, everyone"

Tsukishima walks around the Xcution HQ, addressing his _former_ comrades.

"Giriko, not drinking too much, I hope?" said Tsukishima, coyly smiling, while Giriko is still as a rock. Then Tsukishima turns his attention to the youngest in the room.

"Yukio, You've been playing too many video games again, haven't you?" the boy doesn't bother to answer, but his body language shows more than just annoyance.

Tsukishima picked it up and egg him even further "That's not good. You should read more books, you know?"

This time a frown appear on his face, and Tsukishima smiles in satisfaction.

"Tsukishima why the hell you come here?!" Ginjo tries to divert Tsukishima's attention from his surroundings, especially the fish tank that happens to be Ichigo's training field.

Tsukishima doesn't bother to answer the question, still studying the HQ, noting the missing members.

"Hmm... I don't see Jackie, or Riruka" then Tsukishima sees the fish tank, a knowing smile begins to form on his face, he then performs a mock-surprise,"Oh? Is that where they are hiding?"

"Tsukishima, don't!" Ginjo shouted, but Tsukishima already slashed the fish tank in two right when he said it.

As soon as the fish tank is sliced into two, black reiatsu erupted from it, startling those present.

When Tsukishima goes inside the room, Ginjo had made scenarios, the best which needed Ichigo to come out of the box armed with his fullbring, at least that way he can protect himself, even if it is just a little, against Tsukishima.

What exceeded his expectation was not only the black reiatsu that now obscure his vision, but also for the feel within said reiatsu.

'Is it complete already?' Ginjo wondered.

It took a while for the reiatsu to dissipate and Chad is the first person to see Ichigo. And boy, he choked, for the sight is too nostalgic for him. There he is, Ichigo Kurosaki, dressed in black garbs. The clothes itself is flickering, but the color itself brings back memories. In fact, he is so far in the memory lane, he needs five second to notice one crucial fact:

Ichigo isn't in his shinigami uniform.

In place of a Shihakushō, Ichigo is dressed in a tattered, form fitting, hooded black robe, with his combat pass insignia on his back, glowing green. The robe is fastened by a dark blue belt with silver buckle. In his right hand, he wields a long sabre-like sword made up of his black reiatsu.

Both Ginjo and Chad arrived at the same conclusion: Clad-type fullbring. A type of fullbring in which the user 'wears' his power.

'His Bankai works like that too' Chad realized, as he recounts what Ichigo tells him about his Bankai, 'He literally shroud himself in his bankai... To Ichigo, to wear his power like this, is his true self!'

Fullbrings are categorized into Four big types.

The first is Enhancer-type: a type of fullbring that doesn't directly becomes a weapon, but instead increasing the physical capabilities of the user, for example: Dirty Boots.

Second is 'magic' type: a type where the user can create a specific effect to an object with their fullbring. Time Tells No Lies and Dollhouse rest in this category.

The third is armament type: A type of fullbring that creates weapons from an object they have an affinity for. Some fullbrings that fall into this category are Cross of Scaffold and Book of the End.

And the last type, the specialization: more like a dump for fullbrings that doesn't reside in the other three areas, they can be a force to be reckoned with or completely useless in battle. The only example so far is Yukio's fullbring, Invaders must Die.

Within all these types exist fullbringers that resides a sub-category, clad-type, a fullbring the user can wear, a power that literally shroud the user within itself. Clad-type fullbringers usually pops up within Enhancer and Armanent type fullbring and very rarely appears in magic or specialization type.

Of course the rarity of Clad-type fullbring piqued Tsukishima's interest on Ichigo.

Tsukishima looks at the clean cut of book of the end, exactly splitting the fish tank in half, he smirks "Here is something you probably didn't know, In any event where the container is destroyed, Riruka's 'dollhouse' will forcibly eject its content. To think you were hidden away, training inside it"

'Oh god, tell me he doesn't just...' Ichigo whined inside seeing the new guy. Ichigo's doesn't look particularly interested in what he said, but he notes how the person in front of him LOVES to monologue, just like his enemy from 17 months ago. This alone is enough to make Ichigo suspects him. As a courtesy and common sense, though, Ichigo doesn't attack.

Tsukishima, done with his little monologue, walks towards Ichigo with his hands spread, a gesture of peace that Ichigo doesn't believe one bit.

"I must say, I'm surprised you have already mastered your fullbring to this degree. You should have told me that earlier, don't you..." at that moment, Tsukishima suddenly accelerate, thrusting his sword towards Ichigo's chest, Ichigo react accordingly by parrying it.

"Think?" Tsukishima finishes his sentence, looking surprised at Ichigo's reaction time. "Well... Well..."

"Who are you?" Ichigo doesn't look fazed from the attack earlier, though he is a lot more cautious.

Tsukishima returns to his usual, smug smile, knowing that he still has the upper hand.

"Hmm? They haven't told you about me? I'm offended" Tsukishima responded in mock-hurt fashion, then he proceeds to dramatically introduce himself, "My name is Tsukishima Shukuro, your friend already..."

Tsukishima never finished his introduction, for Chad already close the distance between them, armed with Brazo Derecha de Gigante. Ginjo tried to warn Chad against doing what he about to do, but Chad doesn't heed the warning.

"El Directo!" The reiatsu blast quickly drives Tsukishima out of the room, in addition to demolishing the wall. Chad goes out through the wall, making sure Tsukishima never shows his mug to Ichigo again.

Ginjo cursed as he runs after Chad with Ichigo, leaving Giriko and Yukio to deal with the crowd outside.

"He shouldn't have done that" Yukio deadpanned, while Giriko nodded in agreement. They ignore Riruka who opened the door and shout at what happened.

"Jeez, who do you think pays for all of this" Yukio clicked his tongue and frowned at the situation.

"I'll handle the neighbors, the police, and the fire department" Giriko, ever reliable, already make plans for the situation, all while looking at Riruka.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Riruka, suddenly feeling self-conscious under Giriko's stare, took a step back.

Divine intervention, after all, resides in impeccable timing, and boy did Riruka come at a great time.

Riruka will make for an excellent patsy.

* * *

While the rest of the fullbringers handle the civilians, Ginjo catches up to Chad on the roof of a building and scolds the latter for his hastiness.

"You fool, Don't make a situation worse than it already is! Ichigo's fullbring has been activated, we can afford to tell him about Tsukishima!"

Chad shook his head, clearly disagreed, "No, we don't even know how powerful Ichigo's fullbring is, and we don't know how he will handle the news. If we tell him that Tsukishima attacked Inoue, it will hurt his performance"

"I see, so he is the one" both Ginjo and Chad, surprised that Ichigo was behind them, turn their heads.

"Ichigo..." Chad is at lost for words and can only look at his friend who walk past him.

"You guys were looking out for me, and I didn't even realize" Ichigo pieced together the event before with what happen to Inoue. Anger starts to bubble up inside him.

Tsukishima arrived in _great_ time, as if mocking the group, "Oh well (Yare, yare)"

Ichigo turns to Tsukishima, his clad-type fullbring flickered wildly "You are the one who attacked Inoue, did you also hurt Ishida?"

Tsukishima smirked, and asked back in taunting manner, "What do you think?"

That was the last straw. Ichigo fullbrought the concrete underneath his feet, accelerating himself to Tsukishima. Tsukishima raises his blade in anticipation. Tsukishima managed to block the attack, but stray reiatsu went past him, not enough to damage him, but it still surprise him. Ichigo push him into the air.

"Wow, you're good" Tsukishima is about to use bringer light to float in the air, but Ichigo has already jumped towards him. Tsukishima raise his eyebrow at Ichigo using bringer light to jump this high, but he's even more surprised when Ichigo accelerated midair, showing his progress with fullbring.

"You truly have come far with your fullbring, unfortunately..."

Tsukishima gracefully land on a railing and use bringer light on it, accelerating towards Ichigo, who is taken by surprise at the Tsukishima's speed. Ichigo, suddenly on the defensive from Tsukishima's maneuver, rises his blade to meet Tsukishima's attack.

"It is still incomplete" Tsukishima stated, seeing the weakness within Ichigo's fullbring. He concentrated his reiatsu and force Ichigo to put a bulk of his power on his blade. The act puts a hole in Ichigo's cloak, revealing the human body underneath. Ichigo, shocked by what happened, didn't register Tsukishima's right leg kicking down, meeting his shoulder.

"If you concentrate to your right side, your left side lose its fullbring shroud" said Tsukishima, he expected Ichigo to meet the ground harshly, more points if Ichigo screams in pain.

Instead of the delicious scenario, however, Ichigo backflips in the air and managed to slow down his fall.

'I didn't see any bringer light' Tsukishima noted when Ichigo starts to jump again. Putting back the thought behind, Tsukishima starts to dodge Ichigo's slashes, which is getting even more ferocious every second, in addition to getting even faster.

Tsukishima drops all pretense of playfulness, now calmly and carefully analyzing every attack.

'Interesting, where is this stamina coming from?' Tsukishima noted Ichigo still not slowing down, a rookie mistake that will cost him dearly. All Tsukishima has to do is waiting patiently until Ichigo wearing himself out, and when he does, he will strike back

As he expected, Ichigo's breath gets more ragged as time pass, and Tsukishima sees a hole in his fighting styles. Tsukishima capitalize by delivering a diagonal slash. To his surprise, Ichigo dodged it by a hair's breadth.

"You think I'm tired?" Ichigo smirks confidently while charging reiryoku and then, by swinging his blade, he releases a propeller shaped attack reminiscent to his previous fullbring, which now appears to be spinning faster and bigger compared to his previous one.

Tsukishima raise his sword to block the attack, and found himself having difficulties in knocking it away from him. A little pissed at Ichigo being more than what he calculated, he increased his reiatsu output to disintegrate Ichigo's attack. Then, in speed that is quicker than his laid back one, he appears behind Ichigo and, using bringer light, kicked him into the ground.

This time Ichigo isn't able to break the fall, and he meets the hard concrete harshly.

Tsukishima use another bringer light to accelerate while holding his sword in thrusting fashion towards Ichigo, who still groan in pain.

Thankfully, Ginjo, already waiting for intervention, blocks Tsukishima's overhead strike using his broadsword, pushing him back with his above-average physical strength.

"Geez, are you embarrassed that much?" Ginjo smiles at Tsukishima, satisfied that Tsukishima lose his cool, before his demeanor turns much more serious.

"Sorry, but I can't let you and Ichigo fight just yet"

* * *

Author's note

Bringer light is a fullbringer's equivalent to Quincy's Hirenkyaku. It is mainly used for high speed movement by influencing the soul of an object to help the user moves faster (making asphalt elastic, etc. Etc.) / holding their weight (making water/wind solid enough to stand on). The difference between bringer light and Hirenkyaku is that Hirenkyaku creates a platform from Reishi, while Bringer Light uses existing object.

There, the types and subtype of fullbring. Of course there exist more than one subtype. There are two more:

Subtypes:

Clad Type Fullbring: Already explained

Construct-Type Fullbring: A fullbring that creates something out of nothing as part of its power. It is different than transforming an object of their affinity into something else, it completely made something up from nothing but their reiryoku/surrounding Reishi.

Personification-Type Fullbring: A type of fullbring that brings out the characteristics of its user as a living-like beings that user and others can interact with.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 05: Hero vs Villain Part 2

Previously:

Ginjo, who watched the fight between Tsukishima and Ichigo, decided to intervene by blocking Tsukishima's overhead strike using his broadsword, pushing him back by sheer physical strength.

"Geez, are you that embarrassed that much?" Ginjo smiled at Tsukishima, satisfied that he saw Tsukishima losing his cool, before his demeanor turned much more serious.

"Sorry, but I can't let you and Ichigo fight just yet"

* * *

To his credit, Tsukishima isn't angered, and even smile a little at Ginjo's taunt.

"Honestly, Ginjo, are you going to get in my way?" Tsukishima cockily asked.

"Get in your way? The way I see it, you're the one who gets in my way," said Ginjo, looking just as confident as his adversary.

Behind him, Ichigo already stands, still slightly in pain.

"Ginjo, please move" Ichigo requested while holding to his left shoulder

Ginjo shook his head, "Nope"

"I'm fine, Ginjo, move" Ginjo was not amused.

In a swift movement, Ginjo elbow Ichigo in the back, knocking the air out of his lung.

"What are you talking about? You were barely standing, a toddler can tell that you're not fine" Ginjo only look as Ichigo stares at him in anger, "Kicked from that height without breaking the fall, no human body can be fine after that. You dying isn't in my best interest, so shut up and stay down."

"Ginjo..." Ichigo gritted his teeth, seething at Ginjo's admittedly sensible words.

Tsukishima, meanwhile, raises his sword at the end of their conversation.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Ginjo? If you and I fight, you will die, you know?"

Ginjo scratched the back of his head, laughing a little

"Jeez, I was about to say the opposite." Ginjo raises his sword in return, no more humor in his face, "If you and I fight, you'll be the dead one"

Instantly, both Tsukishima and Ginjo disappear from Ichigo's sight, appearing a moment later locked in a sword fight. Though their speed might be equal, Ginjo has the advantage in physical strength, and he easily pushes back Tsukishima.

Ginjo has repeatedly attacked Tsukishima, but the latter is able to parry the ones he can and dodge the ones he cannot. Tsukishima calmly bides his time for a counterattack.

Ichigo, now able to stand once more, observes their fight, fullbring once more manifested on his body. Ichigo is about to enter the fight when a big and firm hand hold his shoulder, Chad.

"Chad, let go" Ichigo warned his friend, Chad doesn't heed it.

"Stop, Ichigo. You see how far ahead of you he is, winning against him is impossible" Chad tries to reason with his friend, but with Ichigo being Ichigo, it is impossible.

"So, you want me to ignore him, _the_ attacker of Inoue and Ishida, and watch from the sidelines? Fuck that" Ichigo swat Chad's hand on his shoulder, running off after Ginjo and Tsukishima.

Meanwhile, Ginjo and Tsukishima jump from building to building. Ginjo expertly uses his broadsword for close and middle range battle. Tsukishima nimbly dodge Ginjo's attempt at severing his soul from his body, all while he occasionally counterattacked.

Ginjo noted the strangeness surrounding Tsukishima's attack.

"He attacks all my vital areas, yet I can't feel his bloodlust" Ginjo wondered what his opponent his thinking. The opponent, sensing his uneasiness, capitalized by attacking his legs. Ginjo, thanks to his reflex, dodged using bringer light as he jumped high in the air.

Ginjo knows he need a game changer, at this rate their battle will be one of attrition, and Tsukishima will most likely win.

Holding the handle of his broadsword, Ginjo charged green reiatsu. Tsukishima barely move when Ginjo brought down Cross of Scaffold, unleashing a mighty reiatsu blast that destroy the building Tsukishima is on. Those crowded on Xcution HQ building turns around at the even bigger explosion, having no idea what's going on. Some even brought up terrorists.

Ginjo's breathing getting ragged as he observes the cloud of smoke and dust that was once a building, his age almost gets to him. He almost didn't register Tsukishima's Book of the End coming right at his head. He managed to dodge it, although it leaves behind a slight cut above his right eye. Tsukishima comes out fine, although more dirty.

"You're such a menace. Suppose there are people inside the building when you blow it to kingdom come, what then?" Tsukishima chided the older fullbringer.

"Don't worry, I only picked empty buildings" Ginjo touch the bleeding skin, not looking a bit bothered. Tsukishima only rise his right eyebrow.

"I see, then should I put on a show as well?" Tsukishima is about to attack, but he senses a presence behind him. Tsukishima raise his sword to his back, blocking Ichigo's sabre.

"You're really are stubborn, are you? You know your fullbring is incomplete yet..." Tsukishima paused as he sees Ichigo's face. It is full of dark blue veins-like marks and his eyes are blazing blue.

'I don't know if I can do this in this form, but...' Ichigo rests his left hand on top of his reiatsu sabre, pumping as much as power as he can, "Take this"

With that an explosion of black reiatsu erupted from Ichigo's blade, destroying parts of the roof. Tsukishima, once again, tactically retreat before the full force of Ichigo's attack reach him. Unfortunately for him, it still managed to burn his arm, parts of his shoulder, and side of his face. Nothing life threatening, but Tsukishima isn't sure if it will not leave a scar.

When the black reiatsu died, Ichigo goes back to normal self, his vein-like marks fading and his eyes return to his normal brown color. Ichigo looks at his handiwork, a little disappointed that Tsukishima doesn't sustain serious injuries. Then again, He is a human so who knows.

"That power just before... I like it!" Tsukishima pump his reiatsu to his injured part, trying to lessen the pain, he will have to attend to it later, "It feels so much closer to the power you used to command, I wonder how you can attain it so quickly?"

Ichigo is in no mood to answer, so instead he uses bringer light to accelerate, sword above his head.

Yet his attack doesn't reach him, for Yukio Hans Vorarlberna has another thing in mind.

"Invaders Must Die"

Instantly, black pixelated substance start to cover Ichigo, who, in his shock, can only say "what the hell."

Before Ichigo can do anything, the substance completely entraps him inside a rectangle structure, on top of it yellow later that says 'save' and a progress bar just under it.

"I see... So you won't even let an incomplete Ichigo Kurosaki to come in contact with me" Tsukishima turns to the young fullbringer, who is holding a handheld game (A/N: We can't say PSP here), his fullbring focus.

"I suppose that only get more true the closer he is to completion, right? Yukio"

The younger fullbringer only look aloof, offering no response.

'Saved'

"Ah, now you made it so I can't interfere with his progress. However, isn't it better for you to lock me away instead?"

Yukio put his handheld game back in his pocket and, in his irritation, explain his reasoning.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I don't have enough charge on this thing to 'save' you. Besides, that is not the reason why I 'saved' Ichigo Kurosaki. If you want to know why, just listen" as if on cue, sirens and murmurs can be heard surrounding them.

"Crowds have gathered. Somebody surely already called the police and fire department. You guys _did_ blow up things" Yukio didn't hide his distaste for such methods, "It is no surprise if the TV station helicopters are on the way"

Ginjo found himself embarrassed a little, since he frequently uses the money provided by the younger and richer fullbringer.

"That might be a little too inconvenient, especially with those injuries, right? Tsukishima-san" Yukio asked rhetorically.

Riruka Dokugamine used the opportunity to get close and point her weapon towards Tsukishima. Tsukishima sighs at the girl's attempt at threatening him. After all the years, it is still cute in a way.

"Love Gun?"

"That's right, you know what it can do, you create it after all" Riruka is actually unsettled standing this close to Tsukishima, enough for her to start sweating. Tsukishima is, after all, a dangerous close ranged combatant."How about you disappear now? I hate doing this kind of stuff."

"We'll be going, Tsukishima-san, and we'll be taking Kurosaki Ichigo with us" Yukio states bluntly, caring more about his dying battery than the situation at hand, "I recommend you to stay, if you want to be exposed that is"

Tsukishima drop his smile, and disappear from the view. Riruka release a giant breath she's been holding.

At last, it is over.

* * *

"Oi, let me out of here!" Ichigo shouts around the darkness that now enveloped him.

"Where in the hell am I?" Ichigo looks around, seeing only vast nothingness. Ichigo isn't claustrophobic, but it doesn't take one to be tortured by his current environment.

 _"Abandon your fear, Ichigo"_ a voice said from the darkness, and Ichigo squints his eyes as he realized that someone is approaching him. The person walks gracefully, every step illuminates the darkness with a dim green light. As he is getting closer, Ichigo realized that his eyes glows blue in the dark.

"Who's there? Who are you?"Ichigo cautiously rise his fullbring sabre, but it takes only a single touch for the person to disintegrate it. Ichigo takes a step back instinctively.

 _"You really don't remember the one who teach you how to breath?"_ at first Ichigo doesn't understand what he (he guessed) said, but then he realized that he heard that before. But where?

Then something clicked inside his mind.

17 months ago.

Dangai.

Final Getsuga Tensho.

"Zangetsu...?" Ichigo hesitantly said, as he found himself unable to believe what he just said. The answer comes as his partner uses his power to illuminate the area with green light, revealing his face for Ichigo to see.

 _"It's been a while, hasn't it, Ichigo?"_ the spirit smiles, right before he pulls Ichigo into his Inner World.

* * *

Tsukishima goes back to his mansion, telling Shishigawara to buy him painkillers and bandages while he cleans his wounds first.

It's the first time someone injures him this much in a long time.

Tsukishima recounts what happened.

"Those marks, what are they?" Tsukishima distinctly remember the feeling when Ichigo unleash that terrible attack against him. Right before Ichigo's sword meet his own, he feels like there is something missing. Tsukishima doesn't know what. "And the color of his eyes, what happened?"

Tsukishima look at the clock, Shishigawara sure taking his time. He takes his bookmark, and transform it into its sword form.

'No time to waste'

When Shishigawara comes back, he found Tsukishima already _fully_ healed, making food for them.

"Shishigawara-kun, let's eat, we have many things to do tonight," said Tsukishima, remembering all of his targets.

'Yuzu, Karin, Tatsuki, Keigo...' Tsukishima smiles in delight, he can't wait to see Ichigo's despair.

* * *

Author's note

That's it, now I must go and get myself a job X_X


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: To meet your maker (Flesh)

When the light died, Ichigo found himself no longer in the darkness. Instead, he found himself in...

Nowhere, For lack of better word.

Ichigo merely raised his eyebrows, not sure of what he sees. He looks around, trying to make sense of what happened.

Did he fall asleep? Is he dreaming?

Whatever happened, Ichigo swears this place feel familiar, in a strange sort of way. Before, in the darkness, he feels trapped. Here, in the vast white void, he feels normal. Better than normal, in fact.

He feels at home.

 _"Long time no see, Ichigo"_ an echoing voice comes from his back, a voice he knows all too well.

"Yeah, It's been a while, Old M… Zangetsu" Ichigo turns his back, meeting his Zanpakutō spirit. Ichigo still found it strange to see Zangetsu in young form, even after seeing that face for three months.

Zangetsu barely turns his lips upside at his slip. His wielder hasn't changed much.

"Where are we, Zangetsu?" Ichigo asks at the spirit as he looks around once more. The white void seems to stretch as far as the eye can see

 _"Where do you think, Ichigo?"_ the spirit asks back. Ichigo snort at that.

Leave it to the spirit to answer a question with a question.

"My Inner World?" Ichigo half-asking, seeing Zangetsu's nod makes Ichigo frown

"Why is it so empty? Where are the buildings?"

 _"Saigo no Getsuga Tensho wipe out everything. The skyscraper, the street, even the sky. We fell asleep at the center of your soul, where_ reminders _of your_ reiryoku _have coalesced"_ said the spirit solemnly.

Ichigo feels a pang of guilt inside. However, he holds himself back from apologizing. Apology will not change anything. Besides, It was necessary. He knows that the spirit understand that.

"Then how do you wake up? And where is he?" Ichigo doesn't miss the word 'we'. Fullbring uses Hollow Reiryoku, so the Hollow should be awake when he awakened his fullbring.

 _"The reiatsu from your combat pass was enough to awaken me and reconstruct some part of the Inner World"_ Zangetsu point to an area behind him and Ichigo can vaguely see a house-like shape, obscured by white fog. When Zangetsu answers the second question, his's expression turns somber

"As for the Hollow, He hasn't woken up"

Ichigo frown at that, that doesn't make any sense, at least if he goes by Ginjo's fullbring explanation. Still, at least Ginjo's pitch isn't a total bullshit, He really is recovering his shinigami abilities. Ichigo let out a relieved sigh.

Zangetsu carefully watches Ichigo's reaction, trying his best not to show any emotion that might alarm his wielder. He knows that Ichigo must be puzzled by how the Hollow still asleep. However, this is no deception on his part. In fact, this is the reason why he pulled Ichigo into his Inner World.

 _"Ichigo, I believe there is something that we need to talk about"_

Instantly, Ichigo's posture straightens up, his eyes focused on the spirit.

"What is it, Zangetsu?"

 _"First, I need you to explain to me what_ _is_ fullbring _from what Kugo Ginjo said"_

Ichigo lift his right eyebrow, not sure where this conversation will go.

"Hmmm…" He recalled what Ginjo said. Supposedly, It is an ability to draw out 'soul' of an object to help the fullbringer. Ginjo also said that this ability is hollow-like in nature, which is why they despise it. As Ichigo recounts the explanation, the spirit's expression change into one of distaste.

 _"What he said is only partially correct. It IS an ability to draw out soul of physical matters, but hollow-reiryoku isn't necessary to awaken fullbring"_ the former old man explained to Ichigo, who nodded, waiting for him to elaborate.

 _"Souls are malleable, they are prone to change. Give them Asauchi and sometimes you find them becoming a Shinigami, corrupt them and they will become a hollow. The same principle also applies to fullbring. Fullbring is completely human in nature. However, it can be influenced by the foreign reiryoku presence during the human' conception, be it Shinigami or hollow. While what Kugo Ginjo said was true, it also applies to Shinigami's reiryoku. Sometimes, during a patrol, a low-seated Shinigami neglected to reign in their power. These people, be it in the form of stray kido or reckless Zanpakutō usage, scatter their reiryoku around, unaware of its effect on the humans"_

Ichigo motioned Zangetsu to stop, "Sorry for interrupting, but why is this relevant to our situation?"

Zangetsu smiled at the question. His owner forgot how he got to be in Soul Society radar in the first place

 _"If we are going by Ginjo's explanation, that they wish to get rid themselves of their hollow-flavored fullbring, then they should have gone to Human with Shinigami-influenced fullbring instead of going to Shinigami substitute. If you remember, Ichigo, Shinigami transferring their power to human is forbidden according to soul society's law, to break it is to incur heavy penalties."_

Ichigo pondered on the explanation. He never met substitute Shinigami before him. The only evidence of his predecessor is Ginjo's and Ukitake's words. Giving their power to a human with Shinigami-like power is a better option for them. It is likely they are more numerous than substitute Shinigami, since giving a human Shinigami power is forbidden in the first place. Why bother looking for substitute Shinigami?

As interesting as it is, there is not much thing he can do in his situation, he needs to regain his power. Zangetsu knows what he thinks too. He is, after all, a part of him.

 _"It may not be important to regaining your power again, but you need to be careful. There are chances that they themselves don't understand the nature of their power, but we can't rule out the possibility that they want to use you for something else"_ the spirit advises his wielder.

Ichigo weigh it in. Truthfully, for Ichigo, It sounds like conspiracy theories, but the possibility does exist. Perhaps all of this is only an elaborate ruse. But whose? And even if it is, what can be done? Ichigo feels that the best course of action is to accumulate power, no matter the source. So long as the fullbringers don't get in his way, he'll help them in return. If time reveals that they have malevolent intentions, then he'll fight them.

Then Ichigo remembers something, or rather someone.

"What about Quincy? Are they a type of fullbring too?" Ichigo asked, then he asked the million dollar question, albeit offhandedly

"And how do you know all these stuff?" Personally, Ichigo rounded it all up to 'just Zanpakutō spirit's thing', but then he noticed that Zangetsu's demeanor changes considerably. From the tense posture, slight trembling, even the slightly widened eyes.

"Zangetsu?" Ichigo can tell, Zangetsu is _hesitating_

 _"That is….."_ the spirit tries to find a way to answer. He strongly prefers not to lie to the teen. Yet he can't tell the truth, for the truth will break their relationship permanently. Thankfully, an opportunity to not to do both arrive, he feels changes around Ichigo.

"Yes?" Ichigo is puzzled by the way Zangetsu acted, he never sees his spirit so unsure before.

 _"Must be answered later. Something_ comes _up, you need to go back to your body"_ Zangetsu's left hand glows green. Before Ichigo managed to protest, he is kicked out of his inner world, back into his own body. Yukio has just 'loading' him back into the real world.

That, however, is not the only change that the spirit feels. No. Something much more dreaded is coming.

 _"To think that his presence alone is enough to wake you up"_ the spirit sighed, forming a broadsword in his hand. In his hastiness to save Ichigo from his helplessness, he made grave mistakes.

First is dragging Ichigo into the Inner World

Second, he slips in too many details.

The second one is fairly manageable, The Ichigo he knows will not press the question further if the spirit doesn't want to answer. The other blunder's consequence will not be as easy or as flexible.

He has to face it head on.

From the distant foggy building, a white figure comes out. The figure looks like Ichigo Kurosaki himself, save for the white hair, chalk-like skin, and yellow eyed and black sclearae. He is dressed in a white shihakushō with black undershirt and black sash. On his back is a white version of Ichigo's Zangetsu.

 **"When one is full of life, the other becomes flesh. When one becomes death, the other is stripped to the bone,"** The figure stops his walk, leaving him just a few feet from his counterpart, a bloodthirsty smile forming on his face when his eyes meet the black spirit's.

 **"Isn't that just how it is for us, Zangetsu?"**

* * *

Author's note

Just want to add a chapter... I'm still jobless T_T

Within this story canon, fullbring is a human ability regardless of the catalyst. Of course, there are other kinds of powers humans can use, but one that specifically uses an object as its focus is fullbring. Humans that use spiritual power without fullbrings are Jinta, Ururu, and Don Kanoji. There might be other humans that I will introduce in this story that doesn't use fullbring, but I haven't planned it yet.

Now that the Hollow is awake, what do you think will happen?

Next chapter: Flesh and Bone, Cliche Villain


	7. Chapter 7

Hell I got a job. And no, I will not let anyone else write it. This is my baby

I don't own Bleach, except the bleach for clothes.

* * *

Chapter 07: Flesh and Bone (Prologue to Cliche Villain)

The black clad spirit waits for the Hollow to attack him. It's a thing they do to pass the time, fights. A bloody, world destroying fight. It can't be helped, For within their core they have rage fuelled by their very nature. The Hollow's frustration at the current situation and The dark-clad spirit's inherent hostility towards all hollow. Ironically, their fights become integral to their cooperation, it allows them to understand each other well. What cannot be said with words, will be expressed in blades. It was unintended, but they never really mind it.

This time, however, the Hollow seems to be more interested in something else. A peculiar power that the black-clad spirit emitted. Something strange, _foreign_ even. It took him several seconds to understand what it is and when he does, he is more than mildly surprised.

 **"To enslave me to your will is one thing, but mutilate a soul? That's low, even for you, "** said the Hollow, his smile already disappearing from his face, replaced by curiosity.

 _"I don't need to explain myself to you, Hollow, not when you yourself eat part of Ichigo"_

That jab hit the Hollow hard, his eyes widened for a second as he heard the black-clad spirit referring to the incident that made him what he is today.

 **"It was instinct, asshole. You, a paragon of reason that you are, don't have that excuse"** the Hollow sneered. While it looks like he's taking the comment well, not lashing out and anything. one who is perceptive in sensing reiatsu will realize that the Hollow's reiatsu jump from its normal level. A telltale sign that the Hollow can't _wait_ to cut him down.

Of course, if they are in their usual power levels, one doesn't even need to be adept at sensing reiatsu to know it. The Hollow, after all, is not that great with subtleties.

 _"I'm sorry. That was rude of me, "_ said the spirit after he realized how hurting his comment was. This caught the Hollow off guard a little, not expecting the apology. A proud soul like the black-clad spirit doesn't give out apology like free candy. It affected the Hollow more than he wanted to admit, his reiatsu fall down into normal level along with the broken pride he feels coming from his counterpart.

The Hollow nodded at the spirit, while also crossing his hands, **"Alright, apology accepted. Now answer the question"**

The manifestation of Ichigo's sanity sighed, knowing that there is no way out. No half-truth. They are, after all, parts of the same being. It is fundamentally impossible to lie to each other, not really.

 _"He was close to dying, I saved him"_ short, a little vague, and explained absolutely nothing but his intentions. What is needed, is the right question. And the Hollow know exactly just what.

 **"At the cost of?"**

The so-called Zangetsu roll back his left sleeve, showing the Hollow bits of woods that seems to be embedded itself in his left arm, which now looks _rotting_. It was grotesque, even for the Hollow.

 **"What the fuck is that?"** The Hollow is taken aback by the sight. He swears _puss_ is coming out of the rotten arm, but he dare not to prove it.

 _"The pinnacle of reishi manipulation, Sklaverei, used in an extended time,"_ said the spirit, his tone stiff. The Hollow knows he loathed using it, if him avoiding his eye contact meant anything.

 _"If I don't use Sklaverei, Ichigo will die. If I leave him powerless, then he'll fall back into despair, then he'll die. So I did what I had to do, I graft this mangled soul into myself"_ the black-clad spirit touch wooden shards, almost in reverence, while the hollow feels imaginary bile coming out of his mouth.

 **"You used that technique on me all the time, without having… that kind of reaction"** the Hollow point out that the spirit subjugated him using the very same technique in the past.

 _"We are one and the same. This soul is not us_ , _not Ichigo's…. Yet"_ as if on cue, the Hollow can see that one of the shards is absorbed into the black-clad spirit's arm, leaving behind reddish scars.

Faintly, the Hollow can feel that outside, Ichigo is using his human-born abilities. The one that feels similar to his own, yet different in a way that he can't describe. The Hollow doesn't know what that is, but he understands that the more Ichigo used this human ability, the more synchronized they are, the less and less will the rejection hurts his counterparts.

 **"You crazy bastard…."** the Hollow shook his head. He averts his gaze from the disgusting limb, and asking the only question that matters.

 **"Are you sure _that_ " **the Hollow point to his left arm, although he can't bear to look at it the second time, **"Will be okay? Are you sure that will not kill Ichigo?"**

Ichigo's soul is a home for misshapen pieces, but the Hollow isn't sure that there will be a room for a soul that doesn't belong. He fused with Ichigo before he's born. Like an antigen blood type, Ichigo's soul tolerated his existence, and he soon becomes integral part of Ichigo. This soul, however, belonged to an inanimate thing, bound to Ichigo by his human ability, and now figuratively shoved into his soul by the other spirit.

The dark clad spirit only smiles at that question. Usually, he is the reason. He is the one providing logical answers.

But not today.

 _"This is a soul of an object that Ichigo pour his reiatsu and his heart into. I believe it is only a matter of time until Ichigo's soul accept it as part of his own"_

Belief, a concept so foreign for a being like him. Or at least a being like he was. When he was whole.

How foolish. The brunette shook his head. He's not of the Sealed King anymore. Ichigo's blood, while descending from HIM, is already mutated so much it is hardly the same.

Still, the irony doesn't escape him. It isn't lost to the Hollow, either.

 **"Believe…..huh? Don't know someone like you make a bet without rigging the result"** there is no actual malice behind the Hollow's words, or his smile. All that is left is the familiar battle bloodlust that the being known as 'Zangetsu' to Ichigo has come to appreciate.

 _"The odd is not that bad, besides"_ the blue eyed teen focused his reiatsu on the decaying arm. In the instant, a black blade was created from his reiryoku, flickering like flame. It greatly unsettle The Hollow how similar it is to his own reiatsu, but at the same time so different it allows the other spirit to wield it without repercussion.

 _"Now I have the means to actively help him, instead of sitting here and hope he won't die"_

* * *

Meanwhile, in Invaders Must Die

Ichigo and Ginjo clash their fullbring blades in an empty land that Yukio creates with his fullbring. Ichigo was informed of what happened after he was 'saved'. Ginjo theorized that Tsukishima track the reiatsu Ichigo and Jackie release during their fight, which means Riruka's dollhouse is pretty much excluded from the option to train Ichigo. Yukio, after much persuasion, agreed, albeit reluctantly, to become his next host. His next opponent is no other than the facto leader of Xcution himself.

After a brief introduction to Yukio's fullbring, which basically creates a space inside his game that he can control, Ginjo requested game rules for the training. 6 HP each, whoever lose all of them, will be pronounced 'dead'.

So far, Ginjo's health is perfect. Not a single hit damaged him, showing Ichigo why he is the de-facto leader of Xcution.

Ichigo has been down to 5 already. Not because he is lacking in skill, but because he is somewhere else.

Zangetsu. It unsettle him how even his own Zanpakuto spirit hides something from him. What's next? Kon? It frustates Ichigo even more than his suspicion of Urahara.

"Something on your mind dear?" asked Ginjo jokingly, noticing Ichigo's wandering mind.

"No," said Ichigo, scowling to hide his true feeling. It's not like he trusted Ginjo enough. Hell, He doesn't even trusting Ginjo in the moment. He can't feel anything from the fullbringer. Not even while clashing blades. Ichigo half-suspect that being made of fullbring, he can't read his opponent's heart with it.

"Heh" Ginjo sighed, before disappearing from Ichigo's sight only to appears behind him, delivering an overhead swing.

Ichigo opted to dodge the blade, but then his face meets Ginjo's fullbring enhanced boot.

-1½ health, [critical hit]

"Nothing, my ass" Ginjo puts cross of scaffold on his shoulder, waiting for Ichigo to stand up. "You got trashed, yet not even once you see me in the eyes. Either you're arrogant enough to think that this will be child's play or you have something you need to talk about"

Ginjo knows that it can't be the former, the rookie fullbringer is not that full of himself. He is curious about what is inside Ichigo's mind.

'Inoue? Tsukishima?' Ginjo guessed. Ginjo can't blame him, though. Tsukishima is very nasty with his scheme.

He wondered what Ichigo will do if he knows that Chad was attacked.

Ichigo never answered, instead green light is emitted from his shoes, a sign of bringer light.

Ichigo, being a stubborn bastard that he is, refused to open himself. If Ginjo had the time, he would have sighed. Emphasize on If, since Ichigo is getting even more proficient with fullbring. The instant he sees the green light, somehow Ichigo already close the distance between and thrusting his sword in the direction of Ginjo's stomach, Ginjo barely parry it with cross of scaffold, and was forced to use bringer light to retreat. It amazed Ginjo how far Ichigo have progressed his fullbring. At this rate, It will take less than a day to awaken the final stage.

Still… Ginjo is quite puzzled with Ichigo. Despite his strength growing by leap and bounds, it still doesn't answer how Ichigo managed to briefly overpower Tsukishima. That power is noticeably absent in their training. His current strength is really inferior compared to before. Is he holding himself back? Unlikely. He got the vibe that Ichigo fight with all that he have, Jackie's injuries prove that.

Is it life and death situation that forced him to gain even more power? More likely. After all, Souls are growing more powerful in threat of annihilation.

'Not a bad idea' Ginjo weighs it in. Before 'loading' Ichigo back into the real world, Ginjo already notified Chad to bring a healing item to the backup HQ. He can afford to push Ichigo into the boundary between life and death a little.

'Let's put you to the brink of Annihilation, Ichigo' Ginjo smirks as he pumped out his reiatsu into cross of scaffold, covering the blade in green energy.

* * *

 _"Now I have the means to actively help him, instead of sitting here and hope he won't die"_

The Hollow only smirks at the spirit's confidence and unsheathed his blade from its clothing shell.

 **"We'll see about that, see if that new power can contend with mine!"** the Hollow sprinted towards his counterpart, his blade cloaked in red reiatsu.

Zangetsu decided to raise a bet.

 _"Winner takes all, whoever wins, is the center of his power"_ the spirit unleash the pinwheel-shaped attack to the Hollow, who dodged it without problem.

 **"Che, if that is the best you can do, then I will take the throne in no time, Yhwach!"** the Hollow swing his sword, releasing a crescent shaped black with red outline getsuga tensho at 'Zangetsu'.

A broadsword-like projectile split the crescent beam right in the middle and the Hollow sidestepped it. His only mistake is for his eyes to follow the trajectory of the projectile, as Yhwach close the distance between them and kick him right in the face, sending him several feet away.

 _"Brute force isn't everything, White,"_ said the spirit, green light trailing behind his foot. He watched as White wipe out blood on his lips with his sleeve, staining the white garb black, and slowly getting up. An ear-splitting grin formed on his face.

Yhwach felt it then.

The savagery.

The insanity.

The madness.

Everything about a hollow that he should have hated from his very being.

Now they are the very thing he missed from this world.

The black-clad spirit allows a smile to grace his lips while letting his being infused by Ichigo's reiryoku, causing blue lines to appear on his skin. It will make it difficult for the spirit to aid his master in his battle. But, since Ichigo is in training, instead of live or die situation, he can afford to let his master fight his battle alone.

Besides, he isn't sure he can break the stalemate without using the power of Blut.

The Hollow, seeing the patterns on his skin, understand what his counterpart is doing.

 **"Take it to the next level, are we?"**

The Inner Hollow, also known as White, summons a black skull-like mask that cover his face, pattern-less compared to his previous ones. In an instant his spiritual power skyrocketed, unleashing a tower of black-red reiatsu that shakes the space around them.

 _"I told you, White, that brute strength is not everything"_

The black-garbed spirit Ichigo called Zangetsu, also known as Yhwach, responded in kind by summoning Ichigo's shikai, which quickly meld into a fiery broadsword with crossguard with a wing-shaped crossguard. Yhwach brought both the broadsword and the fullbring black blade in front of him.

 _"Although the right amount of brute strength can work wonders"_

In response to Yhwach's comment, The Hollow let out a howling laughter that reverberates throughout the empty space. Both he and Yhwach charged their reiatsu, crackling the air with the clashing of their energy.

As soon as their blades connect, bursts of reiatsu are released into their surrounding, plunging the white world into chaos.

* * *

Author's note

Yeah, the update will be irregular.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Cliche Villain A.k.a...

Invaders Must Die

Two human warriors locked blade with each other, grunting and heaving. The orange haired combatant, unused to fighting in a human body, limited stamina and all that, has his defense full of holes. The older and more experienced fullbringer, tired of waiting, decided not to wait any longer.

"This will hurt" Ginjo warned the fullbringer. He concentrates the green energy surrounding his cross of scaffold into the edges of the blade.

[Clink]

Ichigo can only watch in horror as the claymore break through his sabre sword like butter and meet his shoulder.

* * *

In an empty world two creatures, complete opposite of each other, lies in the pool of their own blood. They are barely breathing, but in this world, breathing or not breathing means nothing. They will live. After all, they are nothing but anthropomorphic personifications of a being's aspects.

While it means death is nothing but a child play in this world, the consequence for their action can influence the state of the power of their true form.

 **"Fucking Hell, How can you do this to me without Ichigo's help?"** complained the white one to his dark-clad opposite.

In the past, the dark one, Yhwach, only won because Ichigo wanted him to. Yhwach couldn't even seal him properly when the chain holding him back broken after Ichigo attained Bankai. Now he gives the Hollow a run for his money.

Is fullbring that powerful? White wondered.

Yhwach read his counterpart's mind and answered for him.

 _"I told you, Brute force isn't everything"_ Said Yhwach as he made an effort to sit, although all these wounds quite hindering his movement. He even has to use Blut Vene, a technique that allows him to increase defense and as a sort of first aid, to stop blood from leaking through his wound.

 **"Then what am I lacking?"** White tries to stand, but his legs give out and he has to settle with sitting cross-legged. He frowns at the state of his body. His reiatsu can no longer keep up with all the damage he endured, leaving him with half-healed wounds all over his body, visible through the now shredded white Shihakushō.

Yhwach chuckled at the question, or rather, the irony of that question. _"You don't lack anything, I was"_

White frowns, not understanding his rival.

 _"What happened when a being obtained power beyond one species?"_ Yhwach elaborates….. With a question, which annoyed the Hollow to no end.

 **"They get more powerful?"** The Hollow make a half-hearted answer, to which Yhwach nods.

 _"No and Yes,"_ said Yhwach vaguely. Tick marks formed on White's forehead.

 **"Just explain it properly goddamn it!"** White shouted before he start coughing blood as he accidentally ruptured his recently healed lungs.

* * *

In the real world, a certain pureblood quincy with glasses smiles as he knows that somewhere, someone doesn't follow doctor's order.

Then he frowned as he sees through the CCTV his son being healed by Orihime Inoue.

He frowned, because he knows that his foolish son know of the girl's love for a certain Kurosaki and his son doesn't want to put the girl in an awkward position by confessing.

"Tch, coward" said Ryuuken Ishida.

 _Die Ironie_ is that he himself did the same thing 19 years ago.

It's not a case where he selectively forgets things, it is just that he lamented that his son can't be like his mother for once and tell what he feels instead of bottling it up... Just like him.

Ryuuken turn off the screen and look at a picture of a woman with long blue hair, her face strikingly similar to his son.

"Kanae... What am I going to do about our son?" Ryuuken whispered softly into the air.

Kanae Katagiri. The love of his life and the one who loved him unconditionally. The one he'd taken for granted since his childhood and when he just began appreciating it, fate took her away from him.

He isn't even sure if she reincarnate and live happily in Soul Society or if that demented captain his son told him months ago experimented on her.

For the sake of his sanity, he doesn't want to find out.

* * *

Back to Ichigo's Inner World

Back to the two spirits, White still cough heavily, although the amount of blood has lessened somewhat.

Now, In normal situation, the other person would help, or at least call for help. This is not that kind of situation.

By this situation, it means that the one person that has open wounds on his lungs heals quickly, the other person being a fragment of a certain blood knight god-emperor, and the fact that they live in an empty world. In this situation, Yhwach found it hilarious enough for him to start snickering.

 **"You… (cough)... you heartless bastard"** White managed to utter before he starts coughing again. Damn his depleting stamina.

Yhwach wait until White already healed himself enough that he can focus on hearing his explanation.

 _"No, means that my Reiryoku doesn't increase at all. They stay the same, except when Ichigo consume something"_

This, White understand. It means that technically, Yhwach isn't getting stronger.

Shinigami, Hollow, Quincy, and special human have reiryoku, spiritual energy, that allows them to perform feats that other souls are incapable of. There is a slight variation on where exactly Reiryoku comes from, but basic stays the same: The reishi that makes up their body hold power beyond what it should have. Reiryoku capacity can be increased by training and when a soul's reiryoku is low, they can eat food to replenish it. Hollow too can increase and replenish their Reiryoku through similar processes, but they can take a shortcut by pushing a method for replenishing reiryoku to the extreme, eating souls. Now other species can eat soul to boost their reiryoku, but Hollow is the only species forced by nature to devour souls in order to move up the food chain. Eating souls explosively increased their reiryoku capacity, allowing a weak soul that turns into hollow to acquire power that let him stands on equal level to that of shinigamis.

However, there is another side that Yhwach hasn't said, and White suspect this is where the 'yes' comes from.

 _"Yes, as in my reiatsu increased since I have dual channel to put my reiryoku into use"_ before White asking, Yhwach already elaborates.

 _"All creatures have unique ways to channel their Reiryoku, which manifest outside the soul as reiatsu. Shinigami by Saketsu (Binding Chain), Hollows by their mask, Quincies through their blood, and special humans through channels unique to their situation. Hybridization, such as hollowfication, allows a soul to use multiple channel, greatly increasing their battle capabilities"_

 **"So you were lacking, compared to me, because I have mask and Saketsu to utilize my power, while you were stuck with what you had. Now that you have multiple channels to use your power, we're finally equal?"** White deduced, Yhwach nodded as confirmation. **"I see... So, this specialized channels, how does it work?"**

 _"Fullbringers channels their power through making invisible binds towards objects. Something I likened to attachment. Unlike genuine attachment, however, this is created by reiryoku"_ to demonstrate, Yhwach touch their combined blood and as green vapor-like light emitted from the blood, it begins to take shape on Yhwach's whim.

 _"When a fullbringers have a genuine attachment to an object, this phenomenon resulted in a form of synchronization between the human soul and the object. The object's soul 'understands' the human soul and vice versa, which caused the reiatsu to meld with each other"_ Yhwach channel reiatsu into the his left arm and White watch in fascination as the black blade is formed slowly.

White watched, fascinated by the similarities between it and him. He moves his hand to touch the saber, feeling the reiatsu. While he felt it before, he's still amazed when he felt something... animalistic... Primal... Savage.

 **'Hollow Reiatsu?!'**

 **"It has something resembling my power, both of them, how? You're not supposed to be able to control that aspect of my power"** White asked, almost paranoidly. If Yhwach can use hollow power, then he can take his power and leave him with nothing.

Yhwach, feeling the anxiety that White subconsciously projected, quickly provide the explanation. It will do Ichigo no good if they are not united

 _"Despite the badge now being bound to me, it is still synchronized to Ichigo's soul as a whole. As the result, it melds different parts of Ichigo and fused it into the form of fullbring you're seeing now, albeit it is not complete yet"_ to show White, Yhwach tries to show White the side of fullbring that mimicked his own power. The result is the black blade absorbing reishi from its surrounding, albeit weakly.

 _"The hollow-like reiatsu you feel coming from this blade really is just human reiatsu that mimicked the properties of other aspect of Ichigo, that's why It is safe for me to use it"_

White considers the explanation, trying to gauge the honesty behind it. Or rather, he's trying to gauge if Yhwach omitted some facts. He found none. Yhwach seems to be honest with him.

 **"Oka..."** before White says anything, both of them suddenly falls into the ground, writhing in pain.

It takes them a while before they realized that it is a phantom pain, even then, the pain still lingers.

 **"What happened?"** White touched the area where he is 'slashed' and found nothing. The red stains came from their previous fight. Yhwach already got up, his eyes seem to be focusing on something that White can't see.

 **"Is he hurt, Yhwach?!"** White hold him by his robe? Yhwach doesn't bother to make him let go, too shocked. He's genuinely surprised and horrified that Ichigo can be wiser than anyone thinks.

 _"He is hurt, not mortally... But..."_ through fullbring, he sees the outside world, while White is limited if Ichigo is in a human body, not to mention that Ichigo hasn't recovered the reiryoku he needs in order to manifest in the real world.

 **"But what? Don't leave me hanging, man!"** White is practically screaming and spitting on his face.

 _"Ichigo..."_ said Yhwach, horrified at things that White cannot see.

 _"Ichigo is calling for us"_

* * *

Invaders Must Die

[Warning: Your health is critically low]

[Warning: Your health is critically low]

[Warning: Your health is critically low]

[Warning: Your health is critically low]

'No shit sherlock' warnings are beeping in his head. He doesn't know if Ginjo hears it too or if Yukio made it like this just to fuck with him. Ichigo tries to rise up, but his abdomen and shoulder is severely injured, so he only managed to get on his knee while breathing heavily.

Suddenly, in the last couple of minutes, Ginjo changes his game and completely trash him around. He is pretty much becoming Ginjo's rag doll.

Tossed around, stabbed, slashed, kicked, punched, you name it.

And now he's as low as a point from being pronounced 'dead'.

Yukio commented "Aren't you going in too hard, Ginjo?"

"Shut up" Ginjo the comment, not in the mood for Yukio's brand of sardonic bullshit.

"Is that it?" Ginjo taunted him while menacingly taking his time walking to his soon to be pronounced dead body.

"Fuck you," said Ichigo, in defiance, his eyes doesn't waver. Ginjo is impressed by his will and he respect that, but right now he needs Ichigo's power, not his resolve.

So he kicked Ichigo's stomach once more.

"Guha" Ichigo rolled around from the force of the kick before he managed to get on his knee again.

"That time when you overpower Tsukishima, where did that power go?" Ginjo asked him, genuinely curious.

"What power...?" Ichigo look at him, confused.

"Don't play coy with me Ichigo, that time, when you made Tsukishima _bleed_. That power is missing right now. Why are you holding it back?" Ginjo patiently asked.

"I don't understand..." Ichigo is going to argue, but then he realized that Ginjo is right. Something is missing.

Ichigo tries to remember the fight. Every last detail of it. From the background, what he sees, what he hears, what he smell, what he tasted in his mouth, what he feels.

[Warning: Your health is critically low]

[Warning: Your health is critically low]

[Warning: Your health is critically low]

[Warning: Your health is critically low]

He tried to focus, but the noises keep him from fully immersing himself in his memory, until the voice drown out, and Ichigo remembers it clearly

[Warning: Your health is critically low]

How angry he was.

[Warning: Your health is critically low]

How warm his veins felt.

[Warning: Your health is critically low]

How his resolve and rage somehow become his strength and allow him to pull out a power he doesn't know he has.

[Warning: Your health is…]

How he is not fully aware of what he had done.

Was it Zangetsu? He doesn't remember the last time Zangetsu explicitly said that he will lend him power, and he isn't sure that Zangetsu can help him now. He's not a shinigami just yet.

If not Zangetsu... Then who? Or what? Is it the badge?

Ichigo look at his broken reiatsu blade, feeling the combat pass he hold in his right hand. Hell, after he gained the reiatsu black blade, he no longer feels anything from it.

Or is it just himself?

If it is him, then how should he awaken it?

The blade... The fullbring focus' soul. It responds to his soul. It responds to his resolve. If he can commune with it, can he bring out whatever it is that allows him to hurt Tsukishima from the depth of his soul, using the badge as proxy?

Can he use this as a way for Zangetsu to lend him that power?

Then Ichigo realized that he is looking at it wrongly.

Zangetsu doesn't lend him power.

Zangetsu IS his power.

The badge soul helps him, but ultimately it is his own power that drives it.

It is him... It is him!

'Then…..' Ichigo

While Ichigo is practically meditating, the facto head of Xcution watched the former shinigami substitute, trying to get some… no… any information about his abnormal power.

At first Ginjo suspected that his shinigami power already started melding with his fullbring. But, if that is the case, then he doesn't feel any reiatsu that feels remotely 'shinigami' aside from Ichigo's fullbring that mimic one from the memory contained within the soul of the badge.

No….. This doesn't feel like shinigami or hollow. It is something else. Something that felt familiar, but he can't remember it somehow. Like scratching the roof of the mouth, the more he tries to remember, the more he can't remember.

Then he felt another reiatsu coming from behind him. Two, in fact. They belonged to Chad and Inoue.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Inoue already running towards the former shinigami substitute, ready to heal him.

Chad doesn't speak. Ginjo took it as a sign that he does understand what he is doing.

Reflexively, he looks up to the remaining seconds of their 'round', as he already told Yukio to time it with Inoue's arrival.

His stomach drops at what he sees right next to the timer…

The health point, which was less than one and declining, increase. It hits 1.5, 1.7, 2.

While Inoue and Chad aren't aware of it yet. But he knows that he's not hallucinating, because he can hear that Yukio is lightly tapping the screen

Then, before Inoue managed to reach Ichigo's side, an explosion of reiatsu erupted.

* * *

Back to the inner world, few minutes before the explosion

 **"I don't understand, how is that a bad thing that Ichigo is calling for us?"** White asked his dark-clad counterpart, who is walking around him restlessly, his hands on his chin. The question caused Yhwach to stop, scowling at the hollow.

 _"The issue is the fact that he's calling for his shinigami powers, while he is focusing on me!"_

White raised an eyebrow, interested but not worried.

 **"And?"**

Yhwach facepalmed, annoyed that White hasn't realized the implication.

In the past, it was quite easy. Yhwach, for all intents and purpose, is his shinigami power, while white is the hollow. Anytime Ichigo call for his power, Yhwach will be the conduit.

 _"Now that I no longer enslave you to my will, he will call forth your power, while also calling my being. WHAT is it that you think will happen, when QUINCY and HOLLOW reiatsu MIXED FREELY?!"_ Yhwach's angry outburst leave White speechless.

Now that he thinks about it. Even when he and Yhwach merged, his shinigami power becomes the wall that separate them both. So it should be okay, right? Yhwach already read his mind.

 _"I took steps to ensure nothing happens when we merged, Ichigo doesn't know it"_

Centuries seems to pass in several seconds, until white speaks.

 **"Well then, we can just hold it…"** White stops as his and Yhwach's body leaks reiatsu, against their will, **"Ah fuck"**

 _"Someone just realized who is the king of this hill,"_ said the dark-clad spirit with 'of course I already think that who do you think I am?' look.

At first, Black and Green reiatsu is called forth from the spirits. White looks like he's ready to take cover while Yhwach looks hopeful.

 _"He only pulled shinigami and fullbring reiatsu"_ said Yhwach while observing.

Almost instantly, red and blue reiatsu leaks through, faster than when the previous green and black reiatsu.

 **"You just have to go and Jinx it, do you?"** White scowled.

Never, in his long life, Yhwach want to punch someone more than the spirit before him.

The reiatsu starts to gather between the spirits, mixing the colors until it becomes a ball.

 **'1…..2…..3…...4…..5'** White counted inside, alternating between watching the reiatsu and Yhwach. It looks stable.

 **"Nothing hap…."**

A searing pain spread across his chest and White quickly move his hands to touch it.

Only for him to find out that he lost most of his torso.

So is Yhwach, who he immediately looks at when he realized that he lost a massive chunk of his flesh.

Yhwach only gives him a pained smile and said

 _"You just have to go and jinx it, do you?"_

* * *

Invaders must die

Three different voices echoed throughout the mostly empty digital world, all of them saying the same name.

"Ichigo!" They run for Ichigo, who is on his knees, eyes unfocused and missing most of his torso.

[YOU'RE DEAD, PLAYER No. 007 KUROSAKI ICHIGO]

Chapter 8: Cliche Villain A.k.a. Accidental Suicide, END

* * *

Author's Note

Yep, my brand of half-assed writing is back!

If you don't realize it, then you might think that I haven't increased the quality of my writing.

That is absolutely correct.

It is not that I don't want to, but alas, I am not a writer. I'm doing this as a hobby. I am truly sorry that I can't improve my writing. English is a second language to me and my method of writing is when I imagine something, I write it. That's why there are (maybe) plot holes, because what I imagined yesterday might change.

I tried to improve by writing everything in different files and comparing between previous and current writing. But it takes a long time and god knows how cringry it is reading your own story (Wait, not my own. Bleach is Tite Kubo's). I also try to correct grammatical errors using ginger, but it can only help so much.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is. I love the constructive criticism and want to act on it, but I just can't. If any of you come here hoping that I will improve myself, perhaps I will, but I can't actively try to improve my writing. My job requires me to be about 12-15 hours on screen looking at data about money and things that doesn't belong to me and my companies. I enjoy it, heck, It is my dream since my 2nd year since I've been suckered into it by one of my lecturers (the chance of messing up other people's effort to hide their shady shit is very appealing). But they are also tiring. This is supposed to be a release, not something that fucks up my brain even more.

By the way, the player number isn't random. It is Ichigo's Xcution member number.

Update: The chapter's name is an artifact title. I originally want to show more of Ginjo but I end up writing more White and Yhwach Zangetsu interactions instead.


	9. Chapter 9

Finally I got time.

* * *

Chapter 09: Despair

"What the hell happened?" Said Sado While holding Ginjo by the collar, his left hand already transformed into one of the devil.

If Ginjo felt threatened by that, he masterfully hid it.

"You made him bleed on that fucking floor and then he exploded!" Chad is not one to swear, but when your friend lost a sizable chunk of his flesh and dying in a virtual world, you'd panic too.

"I don't know what really happened. But It had nothing to do with shinigami or fullbring power. He didn't bring out his fullbring's final form. That much I know, " said Ginjo, recalling how for moments after the explosion, Ichigo's reiatsu blades and coats stays the same.

What he didn't tell Chad was that Ichigo's HP increased…. Like he healed himself or…..

Regenerated, like a hollow.

Then again, their power comes from hollow reiryoku, so it shouldn't be surprising, given Ichigo possess a powerful hollow inside him.

But it's still unusual. It's not common for fullbringers to attain generic hollow power like Cero or High Speed Regeneration. They are still humans, after all.

Ginjo slowly placed his hand on Chad's wrist, applying reiatsu to increase his strength, just enough for Chad to let go of his collar.

"You can try to kill me if you must, but that will not help Ichigo." Ginjo told him softly, trying to sincerely convey his understanding and sympathy to Chad. "If it means anything, I'm sorry"

It appeared to work, since Chad's left arm return to its normal human form.

"We'll settle this next time" Chad warned him, before returning his sight on Inoue and Ichigo.

"If both of you are done, I need help" Yukio's sound reverberate throughout the area, turning their attention to the big screen in the sky.

The sounds of buttons being mashed by fingers can be heard from outside. Yukio is busy setting up the world in such way to facilitate healing

[[Invaders' Life Recovery Zone]]

Health Regeneration: 200%

Stamina Regeneration: 200%

Reiatsu Regeneration: 200%

All Negative Status Effect negated in this area

However, no matter how good Yukio designed his world, Ichigo is still a real human. A body not entirely within his sovereignty, as such, Ichigo's body and soul still follow the normal law of the real world.

Which means, no matter how much he boosted up health/stamina/reiatsu regeneration in the area, Ichigo is losing his lifeforce and doesn't have his reiatsu increased.

Which is where Orihime Inoue came in.

Her power, after all, is to reject all reality.

Still, they really had their work cut out for them.

"I'm a little bit undercharged here, so if you're done wasting energy, you can donate it just right…" Yukio tapped a few buttons and a pedestal was created in front of them "Here"

"What does it do?"Chad asked.

"Well, in short, it will boost the effectivity of this recovery area I created, and also give me enough energy to apply some enhancement on Miss Inoue here" said Yukio, still calm even after the whole ordeal. Chad was sure he wouldn't even change that poker face if they failed to revive Ichigo.

Speaking of Ichigo.

"Inoue, how is he?" Chad asked while placing his hand on the pedestal, right beside Ginjo's own. Green Aura enveloped their hands.

"His physical body is not in any trouble. In fact, It heals as soon as Yukio-san turned this whole area into healing space. His soul, however…." Inoue shook her head and focused on the healing, not wanting to be distracted.

Chad got the idea and wisely not ask more, focusing on sending his reiatsu to Yukio, hoping for the best.

Ginjo, still silent, inspectedIchigo's still form. With his experience in detecting the supernatural, could see that Ichigo's body is bleeding reiatsu. And given that Ichigo possessed only a limited amount of it, It was concerning… to say at least.

Ichigo soul didn't move on from his body to the afterlife. Nor it's getting better.

No.

The situation was worse than what Ichigo's companion thought.

'Wake up, Ichigo, or Chad will kill me'

* * *

Ichigo woke up inside the dimension of infinite whiteness. The dimension that he knew was once his great skyscrapers world. A glimpse of recent memory and he found himself Instinctively touching his chest.

Nothing.

Not a single blood.

'What happened?' Ichigo thought, Did his hollow got awakened? Is he trying to hijack his body, again?

Another glimpse of his memory and he knew that the answer is a no. He just knew that it was something else entirely.

He got up and look around him, finding nothingness stretched as far as the eyes can see. Suddenly, the world reverberated violently. He can hear the whispers in the air.

The voices of his friends.

"I see, " Ichigo realized, he's dying.

Ichigo sighed. Truthfully, he's okay with it. It's not like he's going to be separated from anyone. Surely he can visit from time to time, if Yama-Ji permitted.

Of course, with grandpa shinigami the way he is, the captain commander might not approve of such request.

To hell with it, he already saved everyone 17 months ago, god forbid he can't stay here.

'It seems I'm not going to university, after all,' Ichigo shake his head "Looks like Karin and Yuzu will have to fill that damn Oyaji's shoes"

Well….. It's been a long time since he last saw Renji, Byakuya, Toshiro, and… Rukia.

"Death will not be too bad" Ichigo said out loud to himself. To his surprise, a familiar voice answer for him.

" **Do you hear yourself talking, Ichigo?"**

Ichigo sighed, he's long overdue meeting the manifestation of his hollow power.

"Well hello to you too, Holl….."

Ichigo stopped the moment his counterpart condition.

And Zangetsu's own.

They lie down on their back, On top of a _pool_ of blood. The Blood that's unmistakenly coming out of a big hole in their chest.

" **Ain't a pretty sight, huh? You have fucked up big this time,"** said the hollow, as if that giant hole is nothing more than an inconvenience. The gurgling sound he made afterward showed otherwise.

"What happened?" Ichigo kneel between them both, inspecting the wound. "Is this from before?"

" **Obviously"** the Hollow answered dryly.

" _The result of incompatible powers mixing, it's not your fault, Ichigo"_ , the young Zangetsu answered softly. The last thing he needed was for Ichigo to blame himself in this situation. It was his, after all.

"Opposite? But I can use the mask and bankai... I thought…." Ichigo stopped, remembering the last time he's in the inner world. He turned to his mentor figure.

"What are you not telling me, old man?"

No answer.

"Tch" Ichigo shook his head. His spirit is stubborn like him

"To hell with it… Whatever. We've got eternity to talk about it," said Ichigo, referring to his next destination, the afterlife, Soul Society.

Finally, one of the two spirit answered.

" **Yeah…. About that"** the Hollow forced himself to get up, coughing blood along the way, before he settled to sitting cross-legged on the bloody 'floor'. **"That ain't happening. Sorry, wish it was in my power to unfuck the situation"**

The hollow glanced for a second to his guilt stricken counterpart, before returning his gaze to Ichigo.

"What? What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, nay, demanding answers from the white-version of him.

" _You are not going to Soul Society, Ichigo"_ the dark-clothed spirit also sat beside Ichigo, holding his left arm with his right hand, since his left shoulder was gone along with the explosion. Ichigo noticed green aura coming from Zangetsu's sleeve. _"Your soul is disintegrating. Something the shinigami called Soul Suicide"_

"Wha?" Ichigo didn't know how to handle the answer as the weight of the situation fell on his head.

He'd never meet his family again. Never see his friends. All of them.

Forget going to soul society.

He's denied even reincarnation

"No," said Ichigo, almost whispering.

In rare display of empathy, the hollow place his hand on Ichigo's shoulder. In any other situation Ichigo would be alarmed. But he's too shocked to even do that.

" _Ichigo. I'm sorry"_ the spirit's apology returned Ichigo from his state, although not for the better.

"No" Ichigo repeated, the tone harsh this time, betrayal written all over his face.

Ichigo stood up, walking backward, covering his face with his palms.

" **Ichigo, he"/** _"Ichigo… I"_ he stopped when Ichigo begun to talk.

"No...no...no…. No" Ichigo chanted, his voice rising each time.

"NO!" Ichigo's shout made the empty space shook violently.

When Ichigo no longer covering his face, his face was that of wrath. his eyes were yellow.

"You will tell me everything Zangetsu, or I swear I will….." Ichigo couldn't even complete his sentence, instead opting to scream.

What more could he do? It's impossible for him to kill his own zanpakuto spirit. He is a part of him.

Yet. They kept secret from him

"You… You both don't get that treatment. You are not my dad! You don't get to keep secrets from me!" Ichigo barked, walking towards the spirit, his anger seemingly filled the air around them. Yet Zangetsu stayed silent.

Fine.

With a swift movement, Ichigo seized his hollow's blade and place it on the spirit's neck, surprising both spirits.

"Tell me…." Ichigo growled, with a voice that in any other time would make the hollow proud, if not for the fact that such palpable fury were directed at him. "You, who favor survival above all else. Tell me the truth"

" **I.. I…."** If Ichigo were in normal state, he would've noticed that this is the first time the Hollow lost his air of confidence, but in his enraged mode, he didn't care. He didn't even realize part of his sclera darkened and part of his left face covered with mask fragment.

That fact alarmed the Hollow, as it means the corrupting essence that he represent was running amok with Ichigo in the middle of soul suicide. The dark, corrupt, and malevolent hollow power had usurped Ichigo's reason.

It still pained him, however, to know that after all this time he still wasn't on the same pedestal as the black clad spirit, while being the source of the power Ichigo is so proud of.

Even if Ichigo didn't consciously know it.

" _Ichigo, he is innocent, stop!"_ Zangetsu plead, but it fell on deaf ears. Ichigo was too far gone in his anger.

"SILENT!" Ichigo barked to the dark-clad spirit, before returning his gaze to the white one. The mask almost covering half of his face.

The Hollow stare at 'Zangetsu' for a second, giving a brief smile that Ichigo missed

It's not within his responsibility to answer that question, and the Hollow himself had no idea how to break that can of worm.

Ichigo's blood will be on his counterpart's hand.

 **"I can't"**

" _No"_ Zangetsu whispered

" **Very Well"** A dark growl similar to the Hollow come out of Ichigo's throat

Then he swung that blade.

* * *

Author's note

Hello. Been a long time.

Got a demanding job and well... I forgot to write. Haha.

See you later.


	10. Chapter 10

KamiKageRyuuketsu: Oh, a guy/girl/Apache Helicopter/FlyingSphagettiMonster with an opinion. It's good that you have an opinion. I hope in the future, you can express it in a civilized manner.

PS: If you think I don't know that you're God-ShadowEx100, you are sorely mistaken. That name is not the most creative spin of your original account. May I suggest removing yourself from the gene pool? Oh wait, it's not like you can pass it on anyway.

Now if you excuse me

* * *

Chapter 10: Suicidal Rampage (of the Soul)

At the same moment the blade come down, the being who represented Ichigo's quincy heritage sprung to his feet and catch the blade with his palm while also wordlessly activating Marionettenschnüre (1). Unlike a version used by Ishida Family, the skill he used to create the strings were instantaneous, no wasted reiryoku leaking out of his body. The invisible strings hold his mangled torso and left shoulder together, while also stopping the bleeding. Yhwach also activated Blut Vene, a gift of bloodline, to strengthen his defense, else Ichigo's slash would've completely cut through his palm. He gripped the blade firmly, not giving Ichigo a chance to pull it back. All of these are testament of the Old King's prowess on the battlefield.

A snarl, akin to that of a beast, came from the mouth of Ichigo. That was Yhwach's only warning before Ichigo bite him in his uninjured shoulder. The wound quickly bubbled up, an instantaneous reaction from the quincy part to purge himself of impurities.

The fact that Ichigo had behaved so similar to that of a rotten hollow prove that the instability from soul suicide had deteriorated his reason. The Ichigo that he knew of, will be no more.

" **Why… are… you… pro…. Protecting... Hirraaaggghhhhh!"** Ichigo tried to form a sentence, but in the end he only roared. His reiatsu heightened, pushing Yhwach back.

He couldn't deal with this alone. Nor he can do this with only quincy power, which was severely weakened by soul suicide.

Wordlessly, the black-clad spirit activated Ichigo's yet unnamed fullbring, the black-green reiatsu solidified into Ichigo's substitute shinigami badge. The badge levitated in the air as two jets of reiatsu emerged from either side, forming the blade and handle part of a sabre with the badge as its guard. The handle reiatsu turned into one side of the badge, forming a rectangular hand guard.

Not the finest blade to contend against the gigantic cleaver his enemy wielded, but he lacked the required power to form a worthy spirit weapon while maintaining Marionettenschnüre and Blut Vene.

" _Hollow, have you regenerated enough?"_ Yhwach asked his counterpart, who scoffed at the question. Both because his regeneration is kicking in slower than he would've liked and their current situation.

" **Even if I have, what good will it do? In case you don't realize, he used my fucking blade,"** even with his back facing the Hollow, Yhwach can picture his sneer well enough.

The hollowified human leaped towards Yhwach, who channeled more reiatsu into his blade. Reiatsu burst from the middle of the fullbring sword, forming a swastika. In a precise and timely manner, Yhwach let go of the reiatsu as soon as his fullbring blade met White's blade, causing an explosion that push back Ichigo.

Not the best application of that technique, but Yhwach's option was rather limited.

" _Do you know Kido?"_ Yhwach asked before going back to the charging Ichigo, who wildly swinging his blade, trying to mince Yhwach into little dice.

" **Are you actually retarded?"** White asked rhetorically, still busy channeling his reiatsu to the wound.

" _You are his manifestation of shinigami power, aren't you?"_ Yhwach swipe low, lightly scratching the skin. As expected, it regenerated before blood came out of the wound. If not for the fact that White was still regenerating, he would've had more control over this fight.

" **Have you gone senile? If that is how this work, then no children of shinigami have to learn Kido,"** White deadpanned. It was hard for him to hold back the pain of his lungs regenerating and speaking simultaneously. His weakened regeneration prolonged the pain more than it should be.

" _You must have something else,"_ Yhwach said while countering Ichigo swiping his blade at his leg with a jumping kick. The kick hit Ichigo's chin, breaking parts of his mask. Again, like the leg, it regenerated instantly, much to his dismay.

After a short silence, White finally gave his answer.

" **I know karate... Ichigo's karate"**

Somehow, that answer managed to get a smile from Yhwach, as absurd as it was. He guessed that White is the source or manifestation of that part of Ichigo. The part that refuses to give up no matter how overwhelming the odds are against him.

" _I'll take everything that I can get"_

* * *

It was at the same moment when Ichigo's eyes snapped open that Orihime's sōten kisshun barrier was chipped away into Reishi. Orihime quickly cancelled her technique out of fear that whatever it was that break down her barrier would reduce her hairpin spirits to nothingness.

"What is that?" Chad asked, which neither Inoue nor Ginjo had an answer for.

Ginjo instinctively grabbed Inoue's wrist and Chad's shoulder, pulling them away from Ichigo.

Had he wasted another second, they would be engulfed by black reiatsu, violently released like a torrent. The darkness covered 20-30 meters away from his body, swirling around like tornadoes. The black reiatsu receded a little bit, before it 'exploded', spreading around the digital world. Dissolved into the air around them.

"Is Kurosaki-kun…" Inoue didn't need to finish the question for Ginjo to answered that.

"No.. He's alive. I can feel his reiatsu" As soon as Ginjo said that, Inoue and Chad can feel faint reiatsu signature from Ichigo, no different to the one he had before awakening his fullbring.

Then, as if made from thin air, blue particles appear around them. They slowly float toward the almost dead fullbringer, creating small yet steady streams of blue shimmer.

They heard Yukio swearing in several foreign languages. Whatever it is, it didn't sound good.

"I… will… not…. Die….."

* * *

White found himself being rejuvenated much quicker than before. He didn't know what happened, but he was thankful. At least he could regenerate faster than before.

" _This is bad, "_ said Yhwach as he managed to kick Ichigo away, giving him a room to breath.

Always a catch.

" **What is it, Yhwach?"** The Hollow asked as his muscle reconnect themselves.

" _Ichigo just absorbed… No… He's eating the surrounding reishi to compensate for losing some of his reiryoku. Soul Suicide has reached material plane"_ Yhwach stated. White found himself subconsciously gulping.

" **So we didn't have much time** "

As soon as White was able, he jumped into the battle…. Literally.

He delivered a back jump kick to the insane hybrid right in the face. As strong as it was, White knew it only serve to enrage the hollow.

Well… In theory, he would be the distraction, Yhwach would be the one to deliver the final blow.

Really… The things he did for them. He would demand from Yhwach a proper apology for this.

He realized that he was lost in his thought when Ichigo almost cleave him in two. Thankfully, his reflex was second to none in this little world. He dodged the sword and move in to grab Ichigo's right arm, pulling it. Then, in a swift move, he stomped on Ichigo's knee joint, bending it to unbalance Ichigo. Then he proceeded to pry away Ichigo's fingers from his blade. A task he found to be fairly hard as the hollowified human had a firm grip around the hilt.

' **Is that…. Horn?'** Then from the corner of his eyes, he saw a red light.

A cero.

" **Huh, would you look at that"** White dryly commented on his situation as blue lines covered the giant cleaver which he tried to pry away from Ichigo.

Let go of the blade and risk getting getsuga tenshou or wrestle the blade and risk getting cero. Really, Ichigo never gave him an easy choice.

Just then Yhwach, who just finished re-gathering what little energy he had, closed in and poised his blade to pierce Ichigo's shoulder, hoping to distract him from completing the technique.

It was a slightly suicidal move, as there was a possibility for the incomplete cero to explode in their face, but it was way better than having White blown away by either fully charged Cero or Getsuga Tensho.

Ichigo sensed him, however, and catch the reiatsu blade bare handedly. The act also brought the cero into Yhwach's direction.

Not today

Yhwach's left arm uppercut Ichigo's chin, making his face and the horn face the sky at the precise moment when the ball of energy destabilized.

The energy blast wasn't as strong as it was 17 months ago, but still potent enough to kill both weakened spirits if it hit one of them. Yhwach was lucky it didn't just explode around Ichigo, else the spirits would've died.

Really, he wasn't thrilled to find out if they would be resurrected in this situation.

* * *

In the world materialized by Invaders Must Die, three people were pushed back by the darkness that was Ichigo's reiatsu. The floor had disappeared, reduced into nothingness. Eaten by the being in front of them.

Really…. This was a new for Ginjo. There were no cases of fullbringers becoming this hollow-like. Is it because Ichigo had an actual hollow inside him, instead of a fragment of one? Ginjo didn't have an answer.

A yellow-eyed Ichigo, whose blade had deformed into a gigantic cleaver looked down on Ginjo. An eye that promised pain.

"You… Secret…." Said Ichigo, clearly struggling to speak.

"What?" Ginjo was puzzled by that, as was Chad. To Inoue, however, it made her remember a certain incident on the rooftop of Las Noches. It was traumatic enough that she held her breath the whole time.

"Spill… It…. **Your... Secret!"** Ichigo's voice became distorted at the end as more black reiatsu came out and more blue lines of reishi were absorbed into Ichigo's body.

"Ginjo, Inoue, Chad" Yukio's voice reverberated throughout the world. "I'm going to unload all of you from the room. I will keep him busy with my hologram"

"No!" Inoue and Chad both quickly refused. Ginjo had another thing to say.

"Only Inoue and Chad. I'm staying" said Ginjo, his tone final. It would be so much worse if Ichigo completed his fullbring without someone else around him.

"Ginjo!" Both Inoue and Chad angrily shout, but the rectangular light graphics already surround them as Yukio forcefully transfer them to another room, Leaving Ichigo and Ginjo alone in the room, again. From the corner of his eyes Ginjo could see a bunch of hollow holograms taking shape.

He didn't think they would be helping at all, but hey, it's the thought that count.

"What an interesting kid," said Ginjo, shaking his head a little. "I hope I can stop you without killing you, Ichigo"

* * *

Ichigo was still in a half kneeling position while Yhwach tried to push the blade into Ichigo's chest. White too still tried to pry away his blade from Ichigo's strong grip. The murderous hollowfied human move closer to Yhwach, trying to stab him with his horn, only for White to hit his jaw from the other side.

Ichigo furiously snarled at White, who had regained his bloodthirsty smirk in that battle.

" **Yeah, fuck you too, Ichigo"**

Yhwach capitalized on the situation by putting his hand on Ichigo's chest. Blue lines travelled from his fingertips on the chalk-white, ceramic-like reishi that covered Ichigo's form.

" _Blut Vene Anhaben"_

Ichigo let out a pained scream as the flesh Yhwach touched burn. The smell of cooked meat filled the air as the blood corroded everything it touch.

" **It's working,"** said White as he felt Ichigo's grip on his blade loosened.

Suddenly Ichigo stood up and jump, twisting his body and spinning around. The spirits were thrown away by the sheer force.

Luckily, they land near each other. White had held on to his sword's hilt for split-second longer than Ichigo letting go of Yhwach's reishi sword.

Yhwach quickly flip himself midair and land gracefully on his foot. White use his hands to bounce back from the ground, leaving a slight crack on the pure white ground.

Ichigo let out a roar as his hand frantically hitting his chest in a bizarre effort to close the bleeding. The quincy's annihilating reiatsu was as painful for the hollow as hollow's corrosive reiatsu to a quincy.

" _I have a plan,"_ said Yhwach, his tone was as calm as when he was training Ichigo. He really wanted to scold White for jumping into the fight with no plan, but then again that was White. He should be the one to plan around it.

" **Spill it"** White replied, flexing his hands, feeling any damage. If there was, it was already healed.

" _We're going to purify Ichigo"_ said Yhwach. " _If we can clean the main imbalanced body, it's possible that the reiryoku will be divided equally to us, Ichigo's facets, and we can stop soul suicide"_

" **Then we need Zanpakuto"** White said, smirking at their odds " **Which we failed to take before"**

" _Well…. We just have to succeed this time, won't we?"_ If White didn't know any better, he could've sworn that Yhwach was joking. Then Yhwach's face hardened, " _However, there is also another possibility..."_

" **of my complete erasure due to the purification process?"** White rethorically asked, " **Yhwach, your confidence is always welcome"**

* * *

Author's note:

(1) Marionettenschnüre is Ransontengai. I notice that Vandenreich uses alternate names for techniques and items, such as Sanrei Gloves becoming Leiden Hant. I also recall that Mayuri said that Vandenreich Quincy might have different name for Hirenkyaku. In this story, Any names Yhwach use is the original name of the technique.

So... I'm not really confident in my writing. But basically Yhwach propose destroying Ichigo's hollowfied body, hoping that the reiryoku will be split equally among the two. However, as White is a hollow, he can be purified too (He's also a shinigami power (zanpakuto spirit) so this is a toss-up).

Now, White should become a mass-murdering psychopath hollow in soul suicide, but due to Ichigo's anger, Ichigo sort of hijack that aspect of white (and the shinigami aspect too since he's taking the zanpakuto as well) and leaving White severely weakened. Thankfully for them, he wasn't taking Yhwach's powers since he's more attached to the shinigami and hollow powers than quincy and human ones. If he's undergoing soul suicide when his fullbring is complete and he mastered it, this will play out differently


End file.
